Carved Watermelon Bowl

Prep Time45min

Total Time45min

Servings30

Ingredients

Ingredients

1

large watermelon

20

cups cut-up fresh or canned fruit*

Directions

Directions

1To carve melon bowl, cut off top 1/4 of melon. Being careful not to cut through to melon, cut thin slice from bottom of melon so it will sit flat. Scoop out watermelon, leaving 1/2- to 1-inch-thick shell.

2Carve watermelon as shown in steps on right. Wrap melon bowl in plastic wrap to keep moist; refrigerate until ready to fill. At serving time, fill with cut-up fruit.

Notes

Tips

Expert Tips

*Use fresh fruits in a variety of shapes and colors that are in season, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple, strawberries, kiwi fruit, etc.

Pumpkin-carving tools work really well for carving watermelon. If you don’t have any, use a small sharp paring knife.

Carving a melon bowl is similar to carving a pumpkin. It takes a bit of time to carve it, but the bowl can be carved before the party, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. The melon pulp you remove from the shell can be cut up and served with the other fruits in this festive bowl.
Step 1 Select a uniformly-shaped melon and wash it. Cut off the top 1/4 of the melon. Cut a thin slice from the bottom so the melon will sit flat, being careful not to cut into the red pulp. Scoop out the melon, leaving a 1/2 to 1-inch shell. Next, determine a design to carve. For a graduation, you might carve the year (as shown) or carve the graduate’s name. Use stencils for the numbers or letters and trace them onto adhesive-backed vinyl-coated paper.
Step 2 Attach the adhesive pattern to the watermelon. With a small sharp, pointed knife or pumpkin carving tool, cut 3/4 of the way around each number or letter.